Part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education Teacher-Students: What do they bring to and expect from a formal South African Teaching Programme?

Oct 15, 2026

The purpose of this study was to understand the nature and extent of subject content and curriculum knowledge that part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education students in one South African university bring to the classroom. It also examined the kind and level of knowledge students expected and sought from the programme. A qualitative design used a questionnaire administered to 146 part-time students teaching across urban, rural, and township high schools. Results show expectations focused on curriculum knowledge and, despite prior training, perceived gaps in content knowledge, alongside adequate understanding of teaching practice. Findings indicate a need to establish individual learner needs to ensure classroom practice is supported by graduation.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction and Background

Abstract

Key words

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 41 | Issue 9 | Article 5 | | --- | --- | 2016 Part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education Teacher-Students: What do they bring to and expect from a formal South African Teaching Programme? Tabitha Grace Mukeredzi Durban University of Technology,, [tabitham@dut.ac.za](tabitham@dut.ac.za) Doras Sibanda University of KwaZulu-Natal, [sibandad@ukzn.ac.za](sibandad@ukzn.ac.za) Recommended Citation Mukeredzi, T. G., & Sibanda, D. (2016). Part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education Teacher-Students: What do they bring to and expect from a formal South African Teaching Programme?. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 41 (9). Retrieved from [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol41/iss9/5](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol41/iss9/5) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol41/iss9/5](http://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol41/iss9/5) Part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education Teacher-students: What do they bring to and Expect from a Formal South African Teaching Programme? Tabitha Grace Mukeredzi Durban University of Technology Doras Sibanda University of KwaZulu-Natal Abstract: The purpose of this study was to understand the nature and extent of subject content and curriculum knowledge that part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education students in one South African university, brought to the classroom, and the kind and level of knowledge that they expected and sought from the programme. The study employed a qualitative design and data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 146 part-time students on this programme. These students were teaching in different contexts: urban, rural and, township high schools. The findings indicated that teachers within the 0-3 years’professional life phase expected to gain knowledge of the curriculum. The student teachers did not believe that they possessed adequate content knowledge, despite their previous undergraduate training and thus expected to learn the subject content knowledge from the programme. Many of the students however had adequate understanding of teaching practice although they still expected to learn more, including learning about aspects of professional teacher attributes. The core educational modules in the programme exposed students to knowledge of curriculum and assessment requirements. However, these findings suggest a need to establish individual needs of students to ensure that their classroom practice needs are addressed by the time they graduate. Given the link between teacher content knowledge and student achievement, and the need to improve the content knowledge of PGCE part-time teacher-students, the study recommends inclusion of content knowledge in the curriculum. Key words: Post Graduate Certificate in Education, kinds of knowledge, qualification, part-time students. Introduction and Background Many developing countries experience challenges related to the mismatch between supply and demand of teachers (Bertram, Mthiyane & Mukeredzi, 2013; Mukeredzi, 2009) . South Africa has not been spared this challenge; for example, in 2006, 20 000 teachers left the profession, while only 6 000 teachers graduated (DOE, 2007) . More up to data national statistics are not available, however, the Educator Supply and Demand Report (2008) indicated a shortfall of approximately 15 000 teachers at the time. This shortage of teachers is more pronounced in rural and other marginalized contexts, where issues of “hard to staff, harder to stay” are more severe (Mukeredzi, 2013), thus creating a situation where most classrooms are handled by unqualified teachers (Hugo, Jack, Wedekind & Wilson, 2010) . The mismatch between teacher supply and demand has forced education systems to recruit graduates into the teaching field, who are not necessarily professionally qualified as teachers. In this regard, Jansen (2012) ci

FAQs

What does the study investigate about PGCE part-time teacher-students?

The study examines the nature and extent of subject content and curriculum knowledge that part-time PGCE students bring to the classroom, and the knowledge they expect and seek from the programme.

How was the study conducted and with how many participants?

A qualitative design was used, with data collected through a questionnaire administered to 146 part-time students.

What key findings relate to students’ expectations and content knowledge?

Teachers in the first professional life phase expected to gain curriculum knowledge. Many students did not believe they had adequate content knowledge despite prior undergraduate training, and therefore expected the programme to help them learn it.

What recommendation does the study make for improving the programme?

The study recommends including content knowledge in the curriculum, and establishing individual student needs so that classroom practice requirements are addressed by graduation.

Oct 15, 2026

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